World Tapering Day
Heading 2
WORLD TAPERING DAY 2023: 4 November
World Tapering Day is a global event to
increase awareness of the problems surrounding the prescribing, use and tapering of antidepressants, benzodiazepines, sleeping medication, antipsychotics,
anti-epileptic drugs, mood stabilisers and opioids, aka psychotropic drugs.
Read more about World Tapering Day
WTD has launched a petition for new tapering guidelines to make tapering safer for everybody and prevent more harm being suffered by tapers gone wrong. Check out the petition and sign it if you agree that is is time for change!
SIGN
HERE
WHAT IS WORLD TAPERING DAY 2023 ABOUT?
WORLD TAPERING DAY is about you
as a PATIENT
-
World Tapering Day is about most doctors and psychiatrists not knowing how to help their patients taper psychotropic drugs safely.
-
WTD is about not being warned by your doctor of the difficulties that might arise when you try to come off these drugs.
-
World Tapering Day is about the stigma attached to being unable to stop taking antidepressants, sleeping pills or other psychotropic drugs.
-
World Tapering Day is about a bad situation that has been going on for decades; a situation that depends on patients being silent.
World Tapering Day is about the MEDIA
To raise awareness and reach people who are relatively new to the subject of tapering psych meds, we need the media. We are counting on them to help us. They must.
The problem of
how to taper psych meds
affects billions of people worldwide.
WORLD TAPERING DAY is about you
as a PRESCRIBER
To work towards change, we need doctors and prescribers, researchers and organisations that are willing to speak out and underline the need for better education for medical professionals and better tapering guidelines.
If you are a doctor or a prescriber and you support the need for change, we invite you to join us and sign the petition!
WORLD TAPERING DAY is about
EVERYBODY
Approximately one in four people in Western countries uses antidepressants, benzodiazepines, mood stabilizers, anti-epileptics or antipsychotic drugs.
But what happens when they want to come off these drugs...?
-
Tapering medication in low dosages is not always available. Many people resort to chopping or filing their tablets down to create the proper dosage themselves.
-
Most GP's and psychiatrists don't have the knowledge or experience to guide their patients through their taper safely, sometimes creating dangerous situations.
Tapering safely is
your
own responsibility.
WORLD TAPERING DAY is about SPEAKING OUT!
.png)
WTD GOALS
-
The general public must be made aware that, once you start using psychotropic drugs, it is extremely difficult to stop. Only then can they make an informed decision about starting on these meds.
-
People need to be aware that advice given by psychiatrists and GPs to patients using or wanting to taper psychotropic medication is often unsafe and that the (relatively) fast tapers that are recommended are dangerous.
-
It is unacceptable that, in spite of evidence to the contrary, many prescribers insist on working with outdated information.
-
Psychiatrists and GP's need to understand and acknowledge that tapering needs to be done hyperbolically, more slowly and with special attention for people who have trouble tapering.
-
The education that trainee psychiatrists and GPs receive on the subject of tapering medication is inadequate and outdated. This can result in damage for the patients and needs to be revised as soon as possible.
-
Training should incorporate the latest insights and research on prescribing, using and tapering psychotropic meds.
-
Psychiatrists and GP's need to improve monitoring and guidance of patients using psychotropic drugs.
PETITION for
New Tapering Guideline
-
Recent research on slow, hyperbolic tapering must be incorporated into daily practice.
-
Lived experience of tapering must be taken seriously and translated into new guidelines.
-
Tapering medication in low dosages must be
made available worldwide at no cost to the patient
-
And much more...
PLANS FOR 2023
We are currently working on several plans for World Tapering Day 2023. Sign up to our newsletter to get regular updates, check out the latest projects and decide if there are any projects you would like to join or support.
COOPERATION IS KEY
Last year, several organisations participated in World Tapering Day and helped make WTD 2022 a succes. We were awed and honored by their support.
However, most important were the speakers: the medical professionals, researchers and people with lived experience who gave their time, energy and loving support to create all the webinars.
For WTD 2023, we invite all organisations, big and small, to join!
World Tapering Day
Newsletter
